By Nathan Morley

At least 100 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes across the Gaza Strip from late Tuesday into Wednesday, in what officials described as the most intense escalation since the Oct. 10 ceasefire agreement.

A spokesperson for Gaza’s Civil Defence said the strikes targeted residential homes and tents sheltering displaced people. Among the dead were 35 children.

The Israel Defence Forces said in a social media post that it had launched a series of strikes on “dozens of terror targets and terrorists.”

The airstrikes followed an attack on an Israeli vehicle in Rafah that killed a reservist soldier.

Israeli authorities blamed Hamas, which denied responsibility.

ICRC banned from visiting Palestinian prisoners

Separately, Israel barred representatives of the International Committee of the Red Cross from visiting Palestinian detainees held under a law classifying them as “unlawful combatants.”

Defence Minister Israel Katz said expert assessments indicated that allowing such visits would “seriously harm national security.”

As of October, Israel held 2,673 Palestinians under the law, according to data from the Israel Prison Service cited by the Israeli human rights group HaMoked.